The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

Today we do and save more things "in the cloud" than ever before, whether its our email, music, documents for work, or family photos. There are seemingly countless services offering everyone from the home consumer to enterprise business a solution to access, save, and backup using "the cloud." Some of these options are more notorious (and more popular) than others. While Microsoft's SkyDrive will likely grow in popularity with the launch of Windows 8, it has also received backlash as it breached some users' privacy by looking at and deleting content - especially photographs.

Today, Amazon announced an alternative to SkyDrive for Android users looking for photo storing options, called (quite appropriately) Cloud Drive. This tool was previously available for desktop computers and Kindle Fire tablets, with this latest version broadening reach to all Android devices. Cloud Drive allows users to upload photos, store them on Amazon's servers, and then both view and share photos from their Android phone and/or tablets. The app makes it extremely easy for users to upload photos, and then access them on Amazon.com, where they can be shared via email, SMS, Facebook, or Twitter.

Cloud Drive users get 5 GB of storage for free, with the option to increase storage to 20 GB for $10/year. Competitor SkyDrive offers 7 GB for free, and also costs $10 a year for 20GB, with additional options for more space. Apple's iCloud offers 5GB for free, with 10GB priced at $20 annually. Other services, like Dropbox offers 2 GB for free, and paying users can get 100 GB for $9.99 per month, giving users sigificantly more space than Amazon or Microsoft, for just a little bit more money.

As Cloud Drive is already integrated with Kindle Fire HD, the new Cloud Drive Photos for Android app indicates that Amazon is clearly making a move to become a key player in this cloud storage niche. In an interview with the BBC, Jeff Bezos said "We want to make money when people use our devices, not when people buy our devices." Offering the ability for more consumers to use Amazon's services on devices - especially those that Amazon doesn't even have to sell at cost - can only benefit Amazon.